Food is a curiosity no matter where you travel. In the Sullivan Catskills, that curiosity is more of a discovery. Especially in autumn.
This is the kind of place where farmers markets, food trucks, festivals, roadside stands and restaurants all have their own flavor palette. Each one influenced by the landscape and those who work it. All of it earned and humbly shared in a way that makes things taste a little better for everyone involved in the process.
Fall Harvest & Local Farms
Farmers markets in the Sullivan Catskills are a touch above what you’d find in the city on any day of the week. But when September and October hit, they take on an entirely new life.
Apples by the bushel, pumpkins, squash, root veggies, late-season greens, fresh-baked pies, sourdoughs, perfectly spiced cookies, cakes and crisps of all kinds.
Preserves and spreads like hot pepper jelly, apple butter and all varieties of jams. Infused honeys, custom spice blends and baking mixes. A selection of craft beers, homemade ciders and mulled wines.
Perhaps a string band setting the fall scene and soundtrack. The stage set with ornamental corn, decorative gourds and straw bales.
There are surprises in each community, like the unmanned roadside stand at Weissman Farms in Callicoon Center, where goats and alpacas mind the honesty box while you browse at your own pace for milk, fresh eggs and whatever was harvested that morning.
Farm-to-Table Restaurants
By Wednesday, it’s time to check the local restaurant menus, which change with the seasons but evolve weekly in fall after chefs have their “me time” at the Sunday markets.
At the North Branch Inn in North Branch, dining is a philosophy of land and tradition that tells a story through food and those who produce it.
Cozy up to a fire at The DeBruce or time your stop with the sun and enjoy a patio lunch overlooking the land that inspired it. Memories are made in places where taste factors into everything. This is one of them.
Fall hiking is a story unto itself. One that includes a hearty stew served with a fine craft beer after a climb to the Tusten Mountain overlook high above the Delaware River or a meander around the Frick Pond Loop in the Willowemoc Wild Forest. Catskill Brewery in Livingston Manor can help you with that. The drive between them is a sensory bonus all its own. Windows down recommended.
Seasonal Drinks & Pairings
Catskill mornings are meant to begin with something steeped or frothed. A fresh-baked good, perhaps of the pumpkin variety, to split with a friend, of course.
Catskill Coffee Lodge, housed in the reinvented brick and mortar of an old NAPA Auto Parts building, sits just upstream on the Willowemoc from The DeBruce in Roscoe and is a good place to start.
Where you go from there is up to you, but it should include an afternoon wine or crisp cider tasting. Bashakill Vineyards, Sullivan County’s first farm vineyard, has American and French barrel vintages along with an extensive offering of ciders. It also sits just down the road from the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area, with lush trails and pristine motor-free waterways perfect for a late-morning fall paddle.
When sunset sneaks up on you, as it does this time of year, there’s a hand-hewn bar rail calling for a conversation. The friendly face on the other side, quite possibly the brewer, will happily talk fishing, but can carry the room on any topic while pouring an autumn-inspired flight.
Nature tends to be a fine pairing for such things.
The Ingredients of a Catskill Fall
Sundays are for cooking. Delicata, butternut squash and Brussels. Parsnips properly seasoned with a touch of maple syrup. Cornbread dabbed in hand-churned butter and drizzled with local honey. Every ingredient bought at the farmers market straight from the person who grew it, who’s usually happy to share a recipe that gives it a second life.
Pop it all in a pack basket, pull all the pots and pans out of your rental cabin kitchen and get to dancing. Cooking is communal and should be shared as easily as the conversation that complements it.
This is apples and walnuts on kale season. Wild mushroom soup. Roasted chicken, braised beef, pies that begin with both ‘pot’ and ‘pecan.’ Spiced cocktails and cinnamon-dashed cranberry crisps.
Cue the Van Morrison. Food was born before the wind. And it absolutely tastes better in fall.
A Perfect Fall Foodie Day
The culinary options in the Sullivan Catskills are good just about everywhere, but they’re especially concentrated in the northwestern pocket that includes Livingston Manor, Callicoon and Roscoe.
Psst… the fall fishing is also fine in this corner.
To set the tone for a perfect fall day, grab a table at Main Street Farm Market & Café in Livingston Manor, where breakfast is served all day along Willowemoc Creek. Try the Brekky Sandwich with trout sausage, featuring 5 Spoke Farm cheese and dill aioli on a brioche bun.
For lunch, it’s all about options. The patio at Seminary Hill Orchard & Cidery overlooks the orchard, a view best taken in by daylight. Why not pair lunch or brunch with a little apple picking?
For a more active meal, grab some provisions (cider donuts) from North Branch Cider Mill and take the scenic drive to Mongaup Pond, the largest lake in the Catskill Park. The drive alone is worth it. Add a bonus hike to make your sourdough sandwich taste every bit as wonderful as your view of the autumn-leaf tapestry hugging the shoreline.
Post-hike, pop into Catskill Brewery or Upward Brewing Company. You’ve earned it, and both are in Livingston Manor.
For a dinner you’ll talk about long after, end the day at North Branch Inn, where every ounce of the setting tells a story of warmth and fall comfort. Especially the food.
Fall Festivals & Events
Pick a community and chances are a local farm is hosting a festival or fall activities. Hilly Acres Farm in Jeffersonville and Cunningham Family Farm in Swan Lake, to name a few.
But there’s nothing quite like the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts Harvest Festival hosted at the hallowed site of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair, running through early October.
For nearly 30 years, the festival has filled six consecutive Sundays with a family-friendly cornucopia of farm stands, crafters and makers, a corn maze, wagon rides, face painting, fall food and live music. All of it enveloped in peak autumn color.
Enjoy the festival, fill your farm bags with fresh produce and your soul with fall fun.
How to Fall in the Sullivan Catskills
Keep an eye on Sullivan County’s fall foliage reports to decide when to plan your getaway and hope for a little luck to capture the Catskills at their peak. Nature is a fickle thing.
For a more personal experience, midweek is the way to go. It’s also the best time to score lodging deals and sneak in a little spa time too.
If you have your heart set on a private farm experience or dinner at the restaurant you’ve heard so much about, book ahead. Some things you just can’t roll the dice on, and these are two of them.
When packing, it’s good to keep in mind that a fall day can swing from the 30s to the 70s and back to the 30s within an eight-hour period. Sweater weather, as they say. And don’t forget to bring some cash for snagging roadside stand goodies. Alpacas don’t do Venmo.
Crisp Air & Cinnamon Spice
So, what are you waiting for? Lace up your hiking boots, go for a ride, take a scenic drive or amble down any Main Street. You’ll feel it. The crisp air and smell of fresh-fallen leaves mingled with hints of cinnamon spice. A touch of woodstove smoke for rustic measure.
Here, food has its own voice in fall, and everything tastes a little better with some autumn flair.
What more awaits? Come see us.